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NPE prep sample · Study page · Ethics · A sample of the National Psychology Exam preparation inside PsychLog. Every subscription and free trial has all of it.

Try these first

Try these before you read. A wrong guess still helps, because you then read for the answer. These are 2 of the page's 5 quick checks. All 5 are at the end of the page, with model answers to compare.

Ethics

Professional boundaries and multiple relationships

What a boundary is, the Code's standards on objectivity, physical contact, self-disclosure, personal beliefs and relationships with clients and former clients, and how to decide and manage a multiple relationship.

Quick check

Answer each one in your own words, then open the model answer to compare. Signed in, your answers are kept and marked, and the plan uses them.

  1. 1.A psychologist in a university counselling service receives increasingly sexualised messages from a 24-year-old client between sessions. What is the most appropriate response?

    Model answer

    The psychologist should respond professionally, set out the boundary with the client in session, discuss it in supervision and document the actions taken, rather than ignoring the messages or ending therapy abruptly.

  2. 2.A psychologist in a relationships service is asked by a woman to see her and her partner together, after she has mentioned that he controls all their money. What is the most appropriate first step?

    Model answer

    The psychologist must consider and record whether joint sessions suit both clients, including whether she can consent free of his influence and whether it is safe, rather than booking the joint session straight away.

  3. 3.A psychologist in a child and adolescent mental health service wants to give a 15-year-old client a birthday present. What is the most appropriate course?

    Model answer

    The psychologist should not give it unless it is in the client's best interests and part of a standard, documented method discussed with an experienced practitioner, rather than giving it as a friendly gesture.

  4. 4.A psychologist in an aged care service is told by an 88-year-old client that she has left the psychologist money in her will. What is the most appropriate response?

    Model answer

    The psychologist would discuss it with her, encourage her to review the will with her lawyer, document the conversation and consult a colleague, rather than accepting the bequest as a sign of appreciation. Under the Code, psychologists do not influence clients to bequeath money to them.

  5. 5.A psychologist in a country town is seeing a client whose employer is the psychologist's regular tennis partner, and the employer asks casually how the client is going. What is the most appropriate response?

    Model answer

    The psychologist should say nothing about the client, not even that they are a client, rather than offering a reassuring general answer. Where a psychologist knows an associated party socially, the client's confidentiality is kept at all times.